Day 30

Today was the first day of seeing my intern project being fully implemented with the kids!

Today I got up a little bit later than I wanted because I was up late last night trying to get my work finished and then I couldn't sleep because there is this club down the street and their music is so loud and obnoxious! Thankfully tonight it was on for about 5 minutes and has now stopped. Hopefully I will be able to sleep well tonight because I have to be up super early in the morning!

I got up this morning and mentally and spiritually prepared myself for the session with the girls. I was ready to leave to head to the office at 7:50am. When I got to the office I looked over my notes again and gave them to Rocío to look over as well. She was going to be there in the session with us and I wanted her to know what I would talk about so she could be prepared to talk also. We worked as a good team, I think! She made two or three corrections to my spanish and that was it. She really liked what I had to say.

This morning we had no kids come. None of the kids were scheduled to come but we called those that didn't show up Monday through Thursday and told them to come today this morning but they didn't. So this morning was spent in preparation for this afternoon for me and just relaxing at the office as well. We then went to lunch at noon and after lunch waited for the girls to come at 1pm. The girls were very late in showing up and unfortunately only three of the eleven but only eight that could come actually came. It was kind of disappointing, I was hoping for a majority. But I knew that everything happens for a reason and trusted that God knew what He was doing. After what happened yesterday I have no right not to trust Him! The three that showed up were Belén, Winny, and Aura. They are all three very sweet young ladies! Also we didn't get started until 3pm waiting to see if others would come. It was a lot of waiting!

While we were waiting to see if other girls would come, Belén taught us girls and Rocío how to make the rubber band bracelets that we had been getting from the kids. Belén made half of one and then let me finish it and keep it. I then made her a bracelet since this was the second one she had given to me. It was really neat to learn how to make them and also just to talk with the girls and have some fun before the session began.

Belén making a bracelet

Today's topic was solely for the older girls. I prepared to discuss 4 major things. The first was the importance of the diaries. Rocío told me that in Nicaraguan culture a diary is not common like it is for us, so I loosened the reins on that and discussed the importance of maybe writing but also talking to a good friend. I gave them 7 loaded questions that they either needed to think about, write about, or talk with a friend about, for each day until next friday and we would come back together to discuss the questions and a few other things related to the questions I had given them.

The beginning of our session

The second topic was drugs. I wanted the girls to be aware of things that could harm their bodies and what it could do to their bodies. I went over the definition of a drug and then provided examples of different types of drugs. I then told them the physical, mental, and emotional harm that each drug could have on their bodies. I told them how God wants us to take care of our bodies, because we were created in His image so I gave scripture in Genesis that told us this. I told them that it is important as children of God to care of ourselves.

The third topic was that of boys, sex, and sexual relations. I discussed with them how boys are great but to be careful of those who want to harm them and want them only for sex. I also talked to them about the consequences of sex with multiple partners and before marriage. I told them about STDs and AIDS and how people can die from these diseases. I also shared with them how pregnancy could happen too. I did mention that being pregnant is a wonderful thing and babies are a gift from God but that if the baby was unwanted and they weren't able to take care of the child then it can be bad because babies are human beings and need to be given the necessities in order to live. I also told them that God created sex to be between a man and a women and the union of that man and women for marriage.

The fourth and final topic of discussion was that of self esteem and modesty. I talked with them about the importance of modesty and that being daughters of God that we need to present ourselves in a way that is modest by wearing clothes that don't reveal too much of their body. Self esteem was our biggest focus today. I was able to talk with the girls about what it means to have self esteem and what it really means to be beautiful. I broke down the societal norms of beauty and told them that God created us all unique and are all individually beautiful and that it is important not to compare ourselves to other girls. I shared the scripture in Psalms 139 that talks about God forming us in our mother's womb. I told the girls that it was important to know that God created you to be who you are and that is beautiful. I told them that we are unique and because we are daughters of God we are beautiful.

It was a really great discussion. For each of the topics I was able to share personal stories with them and I wanted to be transparent with them and let them know that it's not just them who have these thoughts and feelings. By me sharing personal stories, Rocío was then able to talk about how they aren't alone in their situations and that even though I am from a different country I can still feel the way that they do. We are all human, no matter where we come from. The girls then shared some personal stories with me and things got a little emotional for one of the girls and seeing her tear up was difficult. I tried to encourage her as best as possible about God's love for her and that she is beautiful, etc. It went really well today and although there weren't a lot of us I know that God does everything for a reason and maybe it was meant for these girls, I don't know only God knows. I do know that some of them wouldn't have opened up like they did if some of the other girls were there. We then prayed in closing and I was going to have Rocío pray but she told me to and I began to pray and at first couldn't form the words to say in spanish but then it just all came and I was able to pray in spanish. The whole discussion was in spanish and it wasn't translated but I had my notes and the prayer was not written down. It was pretty exciting.

Winny(yellow shirt), Rocío, myself, Belén(black shirt), and Aura(blue dress)

We finished a little after 4pm. We spent an hour talking but it felt more like fifteen minutes! The girls stayed with us until 5pm and then left to head home and we had to pack up and head home too. We got back to the hostel and had to go pick up our clothes that we dropped off to be washed two days ago and then had to pack for our trip this weekend. We are going to go to a volcano island in Nicaragua. I would tell you the name of it but I don't know how to spell it so when I go tomorrow I will make sure to put in tomorrow's post the name with the correct spelling. Anyways, so we are excited about that and have been getting ready. 

We had dinner tonight at the house. I taught Brad how to make my pasta and veggie stir fry and then I also made quesadillas. Dinner was very good tonight! It was then off to our rooms because we have to be up super early tomorrow morning to catch the bus and then take a ferry ride. So we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow. I just wanted to thank y'all for your prayers for the session and for me in general. I really appreciate it and now my prayer is that God I have planted now send someone to water and He will give the increase. It is now in God's hands! I will continue to talk with the girls and be there for them but I'm trusting in God's plan. 

Well it is getting late and I need to get some rest! Thanks for your prayers and thanks for reading!

Until next time, buenas noches